Japanese star, Yushin Okami, is set to fight Tim Boetsch in his native Japan at UFC 144 according to ufc.com.

"Undefeated since dropping down to middleweight, Tim ‘The Barbarian' Boetsch has verbally agreed to face top three ranked Yushin ‘Thunder' Okami February 26th in Saitama, Japan," said Dana White, UFC president.

Okami (26-6) will finally fight in front of the home crowd for the first time since 2006 when he defeated Izuru Takeuchi. Okami last fought at UFC 134 for the UFC's middleweight title, losing to Anderson Silva in the second round via TKO. However Okami has been consistently ranked as one of the best middleweights in the world, losing only four times in the past five years of competition. Currently he is training in Japan with other UFC fighters, Dong Hyun Kim, Yoshihiro Akiyama, and Dream standout, Tatsuya Kawajiri. Akiyama is also scheduled to fight on the card against Jake Shields.

Boetsch (14-4) has seen his UFC career rejuvenated since his drop to the middleweight division, defeating Nick Ring and Kendall Grove in his last two outings. "The Barbarian" is now 6-1 over seven fights, losing only to Phil Davis at UFC 123.

UFC 144 is scheduled on February 26, 2012 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.